Faith Restored
by SpaceRoses
Summary: Legolas receives some unexpected assurance before the battle of Helm's Deep. Mostly Movieverse.


**Disclaimer: **The child is mine but everything else belongs to Professor Tolkien.

**Author's Note: **Set at some point before the climax of _Two Towers_, but slightly AU in the course of the movie events. There are some spoilers, you have been warned. There are also so mentions of some of the tenants of Christen faith so if those bother you, or you don't believe in them, you shouldn't read further. Read and Review if you like but Flames will be mocked.

Genres: Spiritual/Drama

Rating: PG (K+)

Summery: Legolas receives some unexpected assurance before the battle of Helm's Deep. Mostly Movie-verse.

**Faith Restored**

It was the sound of childish laughter that first drew Legolas towards the opening of the Glittering Caves. It sounded so out of place amid the loud preparations for battle that were resounding throughout the fortress of Helm's Deep that it had caught his attention.

A small girl was playing there, hidden out of the way of the people who where swarming in and out of the opening. Legolas frowned slightly, his eyes watching her. He remembered the game she was playing well. He had learned it himself when he was a small child.

After a moment the girl noticed him, "Hello." She said simply, her lips pulling upwards into a smile.

Legolas returned the smile, "Hello."

The girl tilted her head slightly, reaching up to brush a strand of dirty blonde hair out of her face, "You look sad. What has made you so upset?" she asked innocently, seemingly oblivious to the action around her.

Legolas's frown returned, how was he to explain this coming battle to a child? Children knew nothing of war and death. They were innocents, free from the invisible stains that blood left behind on one's hands and one's soul. After a moment he responded, "There….there is a storm coming. It will be here soon and I fear we're unprepared for it."

The girl's lips tugged down into a frown, "Why don't you just stay inside, in the caves? There it is safe and you won't have to worry."

Legolas wasn't sure whether he wanted to smile at the innocence of the child or weep because he knew that same innocence would be lost all too soon. "It isn't that simple. I need to stay outside in it, I need to withstand it." He was at a loss for words, trying to explain this without telling her the truth. How could he tell a girl who couldn't be more the five or six that an army of monsters was coming here to destroy every last being in this fortress and that there was no escape?

She leaned back slightly, balancing on her heels, "Why?" she asked again, her simple words unknowingly causing Legolas more anxiety then he had felt on this whole journey.

He sighed and moved to kneel down next to her in her hiding spot. "It's so that others will not need to endure it. It's to keep others safe from this storm. Sometimes….Sometimes a few people need to suffer so that more people can be safe." He finally said quietly.

The child nodded, "Oh. I…I think I see." She spoke softly, her voice growing grave.

Legolas instantly regretted what he had said but there was no taking back the words now. What had been said had been said and the past could not come again. Silence fell between them as the girl reached down and started to trace patterns in the dust. Finally she looked back towards him, "And you would do this for us? Why? You aren't one of us." She stated, "Your ears point at the tips and your dress isn't like ours."

Legolas's mouth twitched slightly in something that could have passed for a smile if it hadn't faded so quickly. The sight of an elf was a rare one in Rohan and he had not really noticed the curious stares he had attracted. However this was the first time someone had pointed out the differences to him so plainly, and it was from a child too.

"I do so because my friends must weather this storm. I would not leave them alone in their hour of need."

The child's bright smile returned like a ray of sun, "Then you are a wonderful friend Legolas. Rest assured that both you and your friends will weather this storm and all of the others as well." Her voice suddenly sounded much more grown up then it had and even her appearance seemed to alter slightly, growing lighter as if she was glowing.

Her use of his first name, since names had not been exchanged between them, shocked Legolas almost as much as her sudden change in mannerism but before he could question her or even remark the child was gone as if she had never existed. Legolas stared at the spot where she had been for a moment before rubbing his eyes and looking again.

After several minutes of rubbing and staring he was seeing spots and was half tempted to write off the whole strange encounter as a result of his lack of sleep. One fact stopped him though.

The dust on the stone was disturbed, filled with a child's random drawings and shapes. He stared at it for a moment, thinking over the encounter and trying to explain it. As he thought over the child's last strange words he felt as if a cloud was lifting off of him, leaving him feeling calm and at peace again as he had not felt since the Fellowship had left Lothlorien.

Rohan would win this coming battle and Middle Earth would win the war, he could not explain how he knew this but he did. He knew it as certainly as he knew his own home. Legolas smiled slightly and his body relaxed for a moment, resting easy in this new knowledge.

"Are you feeling all right Legolas?" A new voice broke into his private thoughts and Legolas looked up to find himself staring at the figure of his best friend.

"I'm well Aragorn, just thinking." He answered, standing lightly to his feet.

"You look as if you've heard some glad tidings." Aragorn stated, still watching his friend.

Legolas thought about telling Aragorn of his encounter and his new assurance at the outcome of the war but debated against it. He was sure that there wasn't a single word in all of the tongues in Middle Earth to describe the pure innocence and goodness of the child, nor where there words to explain how he could be so sure of himself now.

Instead he smiled, "I am not sure yet Aragorn but I have a feeling that the weather is changing yet again my friend. Changing for the better." Before Aragorn could press him further Legolas bowed his head slightly and moved towards the armory, his hope and his will strengthened against the coming fight.

Legolas didn't realize it as the time but the single word he needed was "Angel". For the first time in all of his long years Legolas had seen an angel.


End file.
